Thursday, July 14, 2011

Starting July 16, McDain's, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant, will ban children under the age of 6 from its dining area. Restaurant owner Mike Vuick said the policy came in response to complaints he'd received from older customers about kids causing a ruckus. In an email to his clientele, Vuick wrote, "We feel that McDain's is a not a place for young children … and many, many times they have disturbed other customers." [minor format edits]

Predictably, this is causing an uproar, probably among the type of people least likely to control how their own children behave.

Certainly the Pittsburgh-restaurant owner's decision to ban kids has caused a stir online. Moms have been weighing in on various mommy blogs expressing their outrage and insisting that Mike Vuick will likely rue the day he closed his doors to kids. "If said restaurant can afford the loss in money, then go for it. I don't care to go where I'm not welcomed," wrote one commenter on CafeMom.

Setting aside the presumptuousness of the above complaint, it is also worth noting that the restaurant, situated on a golf course, caters primarily to older customers.

It is noteworthy that the article actually has to state that it is perfectly legal for someone who runs a restaurant to decide whom he serve. That should serve as an indication of how close to being forgotten the concept of property rights has become.

-- CAV

--- In Other News ---

Here are twoways to help someone realize that he is being rude. Each involves helping the offender against etiquette realize for himself that he should re-think his behavior.

An article proclaiming government "high speed" rail to be dead offers useful advice for those who would like to see better railroads in places where rail actually makes sense (such as the Northeast) and, indirectly, for advocates of capitalism who want to speak about issues pertaining to major infrastructure.

Three cheers for the U. S. Women's national team on advancing to their first Women's World Cup final since 1999, via a 3-1 defeat of France.

2 comments:

I know people who do that "douchebag's mirror" stuff, and I'd have to advise against it, personally. It's not going to encourage people to change their behavior, it's just going to make them mad. Nobody listens to the complaints of a passive-aggressive jerk.

While it can be almost physically painful sometimes, taking the high road usually is much, much better than giving in to the urge to "correct" people this way. You can always go discuss it with them later when you're not so pissed off.

I agree that in most situations, the Lifehacker tip isn't good. If you don't think telling someone to stop something will do any good, that trick will almost always backfire -- EXCEPT, sometimes, with people who are merely inexperienced, and for whom the explanation won't be "real" enough to them. And then, it could still backfire.